Hope Canal misses June 30 deadline
– Ramsammy assures of completion soon

THE East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) Northern Relief Channel, the Hope Canal, missed its deadline for completion yesterday.“With the passage of the June 30 deadline, the construction of the Hope Canal has seen significant progress towards completion of the massive construction project,” Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, told the Guyana Chronicle, yesterday.
According to him, the canal itself is largely completed and its final completion is awaiting the availability of the outer sluice and the operationalization of the head regulator.

“Weekend rain curtailed efforts to complete a major part of the structure…most of the time consuming and major works to complete the outer sluice have been completed.” – Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

The project has four components, the more than 10-kilometre channel, the head regulator, the eight-gate sluice at the canal’s Atlantic end and the EDWC Northern Relief Channel Public Road Bridge.
The latter was completed and commissioned in February, while, according to the Agriculture Minister, the head regulator has been largely completed, with only a winch mechanism to be installed.
“The winch mechanism has been procured by the NDIA from an external supplier and the NDIA is awaiting the delivery of the mechanism. Once in the country, this will be immediately installed,” Ramsammy said.
He added that the more than 10-kilometre channel is completed, with minor works to be done, and the outer sluice structure is about 85 per cent complete.
The Minister said, “Weekend rain curtailed efforts to complete a major part of the structure that accommodates a similar winch mechanism as the head regulator. Most of the time-consuming and major works to complete the outer sluice have been completed.
“The construction was delayed for a major part of May to allow the NDIA (the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority) to do external testing of the structure that was completed at the time, in order to ensure that the construction met standards and specifications established by the NDIA and as per contract.”
Ramsammy made it clear that his Ministry continues to work with the contractors to complete the remaining part of the sluice to ensure that the channel can become functional.
He stated that while the June 30 deadline has not been met by the contractors, the Ministry is satisfied that the contractors are making every effort to complete this major construction project in a short time from now.
“The focus of the Ministry continues to be the completion of the entire project,” Ramsammy stressed.
Additionally, the actual testing of the functionality of the channel will have to await the availability of an adequate fill volume of the channel.
Indications were that the US $15M Hope Canal project, which is expected to be the answer to the flooding experienced in the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary (MMA) areas during rainy periods, would be operational as the rainy season sets in.
Residents in the MMA area over the years have lost crops and cattle in floods, during the rainy period. As seen in the past, when the Maduni sluice has to be opened to drain the East Demerara Water Conservancy, residents in the MMA area have to battle a rise in the Mahaica Creek – making the completion of the Hope Canal something that is much needed.
Construction on the project began in February 2011, with an estimated 18 months for completion and the deadline for the project was initially set for June 2013, but was subsequently extended to the end of August, and then once again extended to December 31, 2013.

(By Vanessa Narine )